County Roads at Risk for Flooding Following Melting Snow, Rain

Lancaster County has 1,100 miles of gravel roads. After severe weather events, like this winter, those roads have a lot of damage.

When heavy rain comes, usually the gravel roads lose some rock and get muddy. However, when the ground underneath is frozen and can’t absorb the rain and snowmelt, the run-off water can cause a lot of problems for the county.

“It’s a winter that is going to melt into spring,” said Lancaster County Engineer Pam Dingman.

There are currently between 40-50 “critical” areas or gravel roads that could wash away, in the county that Dingman and her crew are keeping an eye on. They urge the people of Lancaster to not travel on gravel if at all possible.

They plan to get out the dump trucks and cover tricky spots with rock starting as early as Monday morning. They hope colder temperatures, adding rock and the publics’ caution will keep the gravel roads intact.